Lonavala is a hill station in Maharashtra, about 60 kilometres from Pune and 90 kilometres from Mumbai. Lonavala and adjacent Khandala are twin hill stations and popular weekend getaway destinations from Mumbai and Pune.
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Our Experience
We visited Lonavala as a day trip from Pune during our recent Maharashtra trip in December 2021. General Lonavala’s sightseeing package includes Lion’s point, Tiger’s point, Duke’s Nose, Bhushi dam, Wax museum, and Karla caves. We were not interested in viewpoints as we had seen plenty of viewpoints in hill stations of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. We were mainly interested in visiting Lohagad Fort in Khandala and either one of the Karla caves or Bhaja caves. And if time and leg permits, visit the viewpoints in Lonavala.
We had booked the cab for a full day of Lonavala sightseeing from Rupa Cabs (+91 9922996310) for INR 3000 + tolls + parking fee. Of all the cab companies that we contacted, Rupa Cabs quoted us the cheapest price and also agreed to take us to Lohagad Fort. Most of the cab companies we contacted had packaged Lonavala tours in which sightseeing places were fixed and those do not include Lohagad fort because it is a bit far from Lonavala. One cab company even lied to us that Lohagad fort was closed due to Covid.
Tour off to a rocky start
The driver picked us up from our Airbnb accommodation in Pune at 8 AM. On hearing we wanted to visit Lohagad fort first, he told us that Lohagad was not in the usual route of Lonavala and he was not told by the Rupa Cabs for going to Lohagad Fort. Our driver then had a phone call with the person in charge of Rupa Cabs with whom we had all our discussions. The matter was sorted out and the driver agreed to take us to the Lohagad fort but he was visibly unhappy.
On our way to Lohagad Fort
We hadn’t had our breakfast before leaving for Lonavala, so we were looking to stop for breakfast on the way. We could see the impact Covid had on small businesses. Around 80% of the restaurants we passed by were closed because of the pandemic. We stopped at a small eatery shop on the highway where we had Samosa and puri sabzi.
After our breakfast, we continued our journey to Lohagad fort. We reached Lohagad fort at around 10 AM. As with any other forts of Maharashtra, we had to drive through the steep road to reach the entry gate of the Lohagad fort. That was the steepest road we had seen in our life and one has to be an expert driver to drive on it.
The road must have been around 2 kilometres long and we saw some people carrying their rucksacks on their backs and trying to catch their breath while trekking up to the fort. Not sure how long would have taken them just to reach the entry gate of the fort. We had read many guides when we had planned our trip and nowhere steepness of the road was mentioned. We had even once contemplated taking Pune-Lonavala local train and then taking an autorickshaw to the fort. And We were glad that we didn’t opt for this option as we neither saw any autorickshaw at Malavi railway station nor any autorickshaw would have been able to drive up on that steep road.
Bird’s-Eye view from Lohagad Fort
There are about 250-odd stairs to reach the top of the fort. There are a few vendors selling snacks and beverages outside the fort but not as many as there are at Sinhagad fort. Also, buy water bottles or snacks from there before entering the fort as there are no food vendors inside the fort.
The first 150 something stairs are in good condition and we stopped for rest every now and then and covered them without much difficulty thanks to our fresh legs. The real challenge was to climb the rest of the steps with our tiring legs. And the steps were also in deteriorating condition. Some of the steps were around 90% broken and we had to climb very carefully. We pushed ourselves and with many breaks in between, we finally reach the top. It took us a total of close to an hour to reach the top.
The fort is in complete ruins. There is nothing but a temple and a water pond at the top. But the fort is known for its bird’s-eye view from the top and take my word, you won’t be disappointed. If you don’t believe me, take a look at these photographs.
After spending around 30 minutes soaking up the view and clicking many photos, we climbed down the fort.
Karla Caves
We wanted to visit either one of the Karla or Bhaja caves. Both of them are rock-cut caves like Ajanta and Ellora caves. While Karla caves are in Lonavala, Bhaja caves are in Khandala. Both caves are Buddhist rock-cut caves. While Karla caves are popular and busier, Bhaja caves are quieter. We decided to visit Karla caves as it has an abundance of food and beverage options and better infrastructure for visitors.
We again walked up close to 300 stairs to reach the Karla caves. The Karla caves are located next to Ekvira Devi temple and there was a good crowd climbing up the stairs to reach the temple. There were hundreds of shops on both sides of the stairs, selling food, beverages, prasad and things to offer to the goddess at the temple.
This was our first visit to any rock-cut caves and it was beautiful. We visited the world-famous Ellora caves in Aurangabad a few days later. There were only a couple of Karla caves opened to the public. The main cave is ‘Cave 8’ which has a large player hall dating back to 120 AD. It also has many fine unusual sculptures.
After spending around 30 minutes exploring the cave, we started walking down the stairs. We bought many packets of Chikki which is a hard candy that Lonavala is famous for. We had lunch in one of the restaurants there and ate Dosa which was just average.
Disappointment at Lion’s Point
We were tired now from climbing up and down all those stairs. We had no more fuel left in our tank. But since there was some time left, we decided to visit Lion’s point. If you have seen viewpoints of hill stations of North India, you will be utterly disappointed. Lion’s and Tiger’s points are next to each other and valley views are hindered by the big metal fence. Many food vendors were selling Maggi noodles and soda for exorbitant prices. Even the chips packets were sold at twice the MRP. After staying for hardly 15 minutes, we left for Pune.
Was worth it?
While I love seeing historical monuments, Megha is not much into them. I had to push her every now and then to make an extra effort to climb the stairs. Even to me, spending close to 3500 INR was a bit steep price for visiting a fort and cave; more so when we had also visited Sinhagad fort in Pune and more attractive Ellora caves in Aurangabad. If you are not into forts and caves and have seen North Indian hill stations, you may not find Lonavala worth visiting and may avoid it.
If you have your car, you may be able to save half of the cost.
But if you want to use public transportation, your options are limited. Pune-Lonavala local trains run frequently each day. For visiting Lohagad fort and Bhaja caves, you will have to get down at Malavi station which is one station before Lonavala. From the railway station, you will have to take an autorickshaw to roam around. During our visit, we didn’t see any autorickshaws at Malavi station. Even at Lonavala, we didn’t see any. Maybe it is because of Covid but we cannot comment with certainty. But articles on the internet suggest autorickshaws ply in Lonavala. So, you be the judge. Even if you find one, you may have to hire it for a full day and it may cost you around 1500 INR.
Considering there is anyway no huge saving of money and hassle to use a combination of local train and autorickshaws, it would be prudent to use your car or hire a cab for a day.
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